Mail-bag catching and delivering device.



l.- W. PRICE.

mm m cncmua mo nauvenms DEVICE. v

I APPLICATIGN FILED FEB-1L I916- 1,265,1 1 1 Patented May 7,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR .L L OYD PR mE ATTohueY WITNESSES L. W. PRICE.

MAIL BAG CATCHING AND DELIVERING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I7. I9l6.

1 ,265,1 1 1. Patented May 7, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR wnuessss the following"description.

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

' LLOYD .WJPRICE, 0F LvADqoHIo.

MAIL-BAG CATCHING ANIYDELIvERING n'nvrcn.

Specification of L'etters'Patent. P t ted ym 191 Application filed February 17, 1916i serial No. 78,972.

ToaZZwhomitMay concern: w

"Be it known that I, LLOYD WV. PRICE, a citizen ofthe United States, residingat Alva'do thecounty of Seneca and State oi Ohio, have inventedfcertain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catching and"Delivering Devices, of which the follovvingis gt'sp'e'cification, p I

My presentinvent ion has relation to certain new and usefu l i mprove1nents in mail bagc'atching and delivering devices; and as its primary object, it aims toprovide a novel device'off. this nature to expedite the linterchanging ofthe mail bags from the ground device to the cardevice and vice versa, fwfhlcli w llpbviate excess ve Wear on the bags at the same time effect the automatic Q ii iterchanging' thereof a manner'tha t Willjnot endanger occupants of the mail car or persons standing in the vicinity ofthe grounddevice.

1 further object of my inventionlis to providefla device of the: typeein question that is extremely simple in construction, jstro gfa d durable "and highly practical from; both'th e standpoint of the manufac user and the standpoint of the'user; and which, it is believed, maybe manufactured at acomparativelylovv cost y.

:Various otherobjects and advantages yvill become apparent' during the continuance of Theseob'ects are accomplished by such means as areshoWn in their preferredform inQtheQ-a'ccompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more specificallyp'ointed out in the appended claims. V

In the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like parts throughout the several vievvs;

Figure 1 1s a viewjin elevation showing the car deviceas'in fan operative relation to the ground device, such; as occurs at the time the'car passes theground device to effect the interchanging ofthe mail bags;

Fig.2 is a view in'top plan of the catching and deliveringarm of the cardevice; I igBisa view in top plan of the receiving and delivering arm of the ground device;

Fig. 4 is a view in top plan of a delivering arm of the ground device;

:F 'g. 5 is a view in side elevation of asup porting arm for thecar device; and h I Fig. 6 is a view in detail showing the up% per end portion of the supporting post for In reducing myinvention to practice, I

first fprovide aground device that consists of a supporting post or standard 10 which carries at ,its upper end, a laterally'proj ectlng supporting arm 11', as at'l2 the latter in turn supporting a pair of. olr'e arms13 and 14 respectively, as at 15 g V H The armsl3 and 1 1 are arranged in spacedrelation to each other as shown in Fig. 6,.Whereby they 'serve'to support both the receiving and "delivering' arm ofthegrounddevice and permit the passing of 'the' delivering arm of the car device therebetween.

j "The delivering arm (of the ground device, shojvnfin detailin Fig. 4, c0i1sists generally ofa body 16 to be formed of Wood, metal or other materialand' attached to the upper arm l lfas at 17 ,"the same being reduced at its'resp'ective' ends as at 18 and 19 forthe purposethat will subsequently appear, A strip of metal orother material 20 has one ieadsxedm c d. one f the Peduc-ed portions: 18 o'ffthefheadfIG as at 21, While the said zreduced portion also carries a second strip 22 to extend in. parallelism to the aforesaid strip, the fastening means 21 also fservingtfo retain the 'latterstrip in a rigid position Asshoivn'in Fig. 4,the strip 20 is of greater 'lengthfthanthe latter strip; hovvjeverfboth strips arei'con'n'ec'ted intermediate thei'r ends bymeans of a block 23 thereby assuring'their rigidity at all times. Adjacentits free; end, the "strip 20 can ries a pivoted catch2 l'a's at 25,"on'eend of the catch normally lying in pro'xi'm'ity'to th'e'strip' '22, 'ivhile the other end is normally heldifin' spaced relation to the strip 20 through'the"instrumentality of a retractile spring 26. One end'o'f the retractile spring 26 emanated-mine outerend of the catch vvhile'the other end of the 'r'etra'ctile spring has connection with the fastening member 27 at'th'ef free'end of thestrip 20 as shown. Consequently in view ofthe fact that'the strips 20' and 22 are in spaced relation, a ring or other injail bag carrying structure maybe positioned therethrough' and yieldinglyretained in place through'the instrumentality of the catch 24.

I The opposite reduced portion 19 of the head 16 has connection with the respective ends of a metallic strip 28,.as at 29,. the in termediateportion of the said strip being bent to form a handle 30. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, the handle projects oppositely to the strips 20 and 22 thereby providing for the quick adjustment of the delivering arm or the removal of the same from the ground device, such as the case may be.

The lower arm 13 of the ground device carries a head 31 as at 32 (see Fig. 3) each end of the said head being reduced as at 33 and 34, similar to the head 16 above referred to. A metallic strip has its respective end portions attached to the reduced portion 34 of the head 31, as at 35, the intermediate portion of the strip forming the receiving arm 36. The other reduced portion 33 of the head 31 has'connection with the ends of another strip of metal as at 37 ,while the intermediate portion of the last mentioned strip is bent as at 38 to provide a suitable hand grip,

In order to accommodate the movable keeper 39, the arm 36 above referred to is provided intermediate its ends with a transverse pintle 40, the ends thereof being attached to thesaid keeper as shown to pivotally mount the keeper, while a spring 41 is mounted upon the pintle and provided with an arm 41 engaging the keeper and having a normal tendency to retain the keeper in a raised position. Spaced collars 42 and 43 are slidable on the arm 36 and the keeper 39 whereby the latter may be normally retained in a closed or lowered position against the tension of the spring 41, the said collars being connected by strips 44 and 45, which have their inner end portions bent outwardly to form oppositely pro ectlng fingers 46 and 47, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

%onsequently, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3, the keeper 39 will be held in snug relation with respect to the arm. However, upon movement of the collars 42 and 43 rearwardly, the keeper will be released so as to be -swung upwardly into an open position under tension of the coil sprin 41.

Referring now to the car device, I provide the car body A with a plate 48 adjacent the door opening, as at 49, the same plate in turn pivotally supporting a carrying arm 50 as at 51. The plate 48 further carries a pawl 52 as at 53, the pawl being adapted for seating engagement in a notch 54 of the arm 50 at certain times, whereby the latter may be held in a position shown in Fig. 5, to retain the receiving and delivering arm of the car device in proper relation to the respective arm of the ground device. At its outer end the arm 50 carries a supporting stud 55 for engagement with the receiving and delivering arm of the car device, while the 'said stud in turn carries an adjustable nut 56 for securely retaining the said arm in place, such as will subsequently appear.

The receiving and delivering arm of the vsequently appear.

car device such as shown in Fig. 2, consists of a head 57 having a through aperture for the reception of the stud 55 of the arm 50 above referred to, while the respective end portions of the head are reduced somewhat as at 58 and 59 for the purpose that will sub- The reduced portion 59 of the head 57 receives the ends of a bent strip as at 60, the intermediate portion of the strip forming a projecting arm 61. This arm, like the arm 36 above referred to, carries a lateral pintle 62 intermediate its ends for'pivotally supporting a movable keeper 63, while a coil spring or other similar structure 64 is mounted upon the pintle and provided with an arm 64"engaging the end of arm 61 and an arm 64 engaging the keeper and having a normal tendency to swing the keeper 63 upwardly above the arm 61. Collars 65 and 66 are slidable on the arm 61 and the keeper 63, the same being connected by strips 67 and 68 which have their inner end portions bent to provide oppositely projecting triggers 69 and 70. The collars 65 and 66 also serve to normally retain the keeper in snug relation with respect to the arm 61 yet are designed to permit the same to move to an open position at certain times such as will subsequently appear.

The other reduced portion 58 of the head 57 carries a projecting strip 71 as at 72 and a second strip 73 to lie in spaced relation to the aforesaid strip, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The strip 71 being slightly longer than the strip 73 is provided with a movable catch 7 4, as at 75, a coil spring 76 being provided to normally retain the said catch in an advantageous position. One end of the coil spring 76 is attached to the outer end of the catch while the other'end may be connected to a fastening member 77 of the strip 71, as clearlyshown. By reason of the spaced relation of the strips 71 and 73, it will be noted that a ring or other mail bag supporting structure may be positioned therebetween and yieldinglyretained in this car device and from the ground device simultaneously, the ring 78 that supports the sacks 79 to be delivered to the station is positioned upon the strip 73 of the car device between the said strip and the strip 71 behind the catch 74, while the ring 7 Sthat carries the mail bag 79 to be delivered to the car device, is positioned on the strip 22 of the ground device, between said stripand the strip 20, behind the catch 24. When. in this position, the rings will hang,

proximately vertical. The moving car then passes the car device between the arms 13 and 14 of the ground device, the arm 61 of the car device passing through the ring 78 of the mail bag carried on the ground device, while the receiving arm 36 of the ground device passes through the ring of the other mail bag. As the car device continues to move, the respective rings will be drawn in engagement with the triggers 69 and 70 of the arm of the car device and the triggers 46 and 4;? of the ground device thereby moving the respective collars and 66, 42 and 43 rearwardly so as to release the keepers 63 and 39, permitting the latter to move into an upright or open position. When the keepers 39 and 63 move into an open position, they preclude all danger of accidental. dislodgment of the rings 78 thereby securely retaining the mail bags until removed by the mail clerks. As the respective receiving arms pass through the rings, and the latter engage with the triggers above referred to, the ring will be forced past the catcher 24 and 74 so as to become free from the respective delivering arm.

From the foregoing, it will be noted the device that I have provided. is entirely automatic in action, and constructed to operate in a manner whereby but little wear is subjected to the mail bags. In view of the fact that the advantages and novel features of the device appear to'be apparent from the foregoing, further detail description is deemed unnecessary.

In reducing my invention to practice, I find that the form referred to herein as the most practical. and preferred embodiment is the most efficient, but realizing that certain conditions will necessarily vary in concurrence with the adoption of my device, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in the details of construction and in the proportion of parts may be resorted to when required without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my inven-v tion, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a mail bag transferring apparatus a collecting device comprising a support, an arm projecting from said support, a keeper pivotally mounted adjacent the outer end of said arm, yieldable means for retaining said keeper extending substantially at rightangles to said arm, means to retain said keeper extended substantially parallel to said arm against the action of the yieldable means, and means to be actuated upon engagement with a-mail bag carrying structure moving upon said arm to release said keeper and permit the keeper to swing to a position at substantially right angles to the arm.

2. In a mail bag transferring apparatus,

pivotally mounted upon said receiving arm,

a collecting device comprising an arm, a hinged keeper adjacent the outer end of 65 said arm, yieldable means normally tending to retain said keeper in an open pOSitlOn, movably mounted means to retain said keeper in a closed position, and abutment triggers carried by said last mentioned means whereby upon engagement with a mail bag carrying structure moving upon said arm, the retaining element will move to an inoperative position and said keeper released and swung to an open position.

3. In a mail bag transferring apparatus, a collecting device comprising a support, an arm extending from said support, a keeper pivotally mounted adjacent the outer end of said arm, a spring connected with said arm and engaging said keeper and having a tendency to force said keeper to an open position, spaced collars slidable on said arm and said keeper whereby the keeper may be normally retained in a closed position with respect to the arm, and laterally projecting triggers associated with said collars to be engaged by a mail bag carrying structure passing upon the arm to automatically release said keeper.

4. In a mail bag transferring apparatus a collectingdevice comprising a supporting arm, a head carriedby said arm a receiving arm connected with said head, a keeper a spring engaging said keeper and having a tendency to retain said keeper in an open position, means to normally retain said keeper in a closed position, and triggers on said last mentioned means to be engaged with a mail bag carrying structure moving 00 upon the receiving arm to automatically release said keeper and permit the keeper to move to an open position under tension of said spring.

5. In a mail bag transferring apparatus, a collecting device comprising a support, a head carried by said support, a receiving arm connected with said head, a keeper pivotally associated with the outer end portion of said receiving arm, a spring having a normal tendency to retain said keeper in an open position, spaced collars slidable on said receiving arm and said keeper to normally retain the keeper in a closed position, and laterally projecting triggers associated with said collars, to be engaged with a mail bag Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. 

